Verdun café closure sparks gentrification concerns

Added: 2026-05-14

[00:00:00]I finished my doctoral dissertation in this place. I um came here every single day when I was pregnant because I had cravings for this sandwich. Um this is like a place in the neighborhood. For Jessica Blur and many others in Verdon, Stacy Dublu is more than just a cafe.

[00:00:19]Over 13 years, it's become part of people's routines, relationships, and memories.

[00:00:25]>> There's a community here. People know each other. They say hello to each other. But next month, the cafe will close. Its owner says he couldn't afford to reoff his lease. He says the landlord asked him for a 60% increase in rent.

[00:00:40]>> We didn't want to close. We wanted to stay open.

[00:00:43]>> But for many in Verdon, the cafe closure is also raising a big question. Who gets to stay in a neighborhood when the commercial space becomes more valuable?

[00:00:55]My concern is that all we're going to be left with is these massive franchises and everyone's just going to get like a MC cafe for breakfast.

[00:01:01]>> If a place like this cannot survive here, who can in Verdon independent cafes, restaurants, and small businesses help transform Wellington Street into one of Montreal's busiest commercial strips. In 2022, Timeat magazine named Wellington Street one of the coolest streets in the world. The reality when a a business like that closes it change the DNA of the street.

[00:01:26]>> The closure is also renewing calls for Quebec to better regulate commercial leases. Unlike residential renters who have access to protections through Quebec's housing tribunal, commercial tenants largely negotiate directly with landlords when leases come up for renewal. That means there are few limits on rent increases or standardized rules governing negotiations between property owners and small businesses. This anti-gentrification advocate says rising commercial rents are also tied to broader affordability pressures across the city.

[00:02:02]>> We need to protect the social fabric of neighborhood. This is why afford housing affordability is strongly connected to commercial affordability. Some local politicians say that concern is exactly why Quebec needs clear rules around commercial lease negotiations. What I've been asking for the past four years, because it's not the first time, is to have a a regulation that allows them to negotiate to put terms on the contract when it comes to renew. We reached out to the owners of the building. They dispute the claim that they demanded a 60% rent increase, but they did say in a statement that they had discussions with the owners of the cafe about a new lease and that they would take into account what they called the current economic context. For Stacon Dubl's owner, the issue goes beyond his cafe, Willington Street, and the reputation that took years to build is at risk.

[00:03:00]>> If there's no like regulation for the price of the place, uh I think it's make it even harder for entrepreneurship >> and we need some more entrepreneur in this in this province. As for Stacet, customers still have a few weeks to grab one last cup of coffee in this location before it closes. After it shuts, the cafe plans to open a pop-up space just down the street for the summer before the owners figure out what comes next.